TSP Part Four Amendment Finalized

The final amended rule and document were accepted by the Secretary of State on December 16, 2024. On November 2, 2023, the Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) adopted as part of the Oregon Coastal Management Program, and therein incorporated by reference, an amendment to the Territorial Sea Plan Part Four: Uses of the Sea Floor. The Territorial Sea Plan is an administrative rule (OAR 660-036-0001) stewarded by the LCDC in consultation with the Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC). Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) staff were directed by House Bill 2603 (passed in the 2021 legislative session) to conduct a study of the process for siting of undersea cables in Oregon’s ocean waters and ocean shore and to work with OPAC to make recommendations for amendment of TSP Part Four by September, 2023.

TSP Part III new Rocky Shore site designations go into effect

Site Management Plan Drafting process begins

TSP Part III Amendment Passed

TSP Part IV Uses of the Seafloor Working Group Formed

In May 2022, a working group for TSP Part IV: Uses of the Seafloor formed to begin an update and amendment process of the TSP Part IV. Meetings continued until July 2023. The amendment recommendations from this working group were reviewed during the September 2023 OPAC meeting.

TSP Part III Working Group Phase 3

The TSP Part III: Rocky Shores Management Strategy Working Group started their Phase 3 meetings in Summer 2020 and continued into Spring 2021.

TSP Part III Working Group Phase 2

The TSP Part III: Rocky Shores Management Strategy Working Group started their Phase 2 meetings in Spring 2019 and continued into Spring 2020.

TSP Part III Working Group Phase 1

The TSP Part III: Rocky Shores Management Strategy Working Group started their Phase 1 meetings in Fall 2017 and continued to Winter 2019.

Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Council Formed

The Oregon Coordinating Council on Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia (OAH Council) was convened by Senate Bill 1039 in 2017. The OAH Council produces Oregon's OAH Action plan every six years and Oregon's legislative reports on OAH every two years.

Amendment Process began again for TSP Part III: Rocky Shores Management Strategy

The Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC) began the process to amend the TSP Part III: Rocky Shores Management Strategy based on recommendations set forth in the 2001 Amendment and changing conditions on the coast. Changing conditions like population changes, new or changing uses of habitat sites, identification of new rocky habitat management sites, and the increasing effects of ocean acidification and hypoxia. The Rocky Habitat Management Strategy Working Group began meetings in 2016.

Marine Reserves Implementation Phase II

The 2012 Oregon Legislature codified OPAC’s 2010 site and allowance recommendations in Senate Bill 1510. The legislation mandates three additional sites at Cape Falcon, Cascade Head, and Cape Perpetua be established, studied, monitored, evaluated and enforced. ODFW is to report to the Legislature in 2013 on the development of a marine reserves work plan. By March of 2023, there is to be a report on the five marine reserve sites including an assessment of social, economic and environmental factors and recommendations for administrative actions and legislative proposals related to marine reserves and marine protected areas.

Marine Reserves Implementation Phase 1

The 2009 Oregon Legislature codified OPAC’s 2008 recommendations in House Bill 3013. The legislation required two sites, Otter Rock and Redfish Rocks, be established, studied, monitored, evaluated and enforced. Community teams were formed to further evaluate and make recommendations to ODFW on potential marine reserves at Cape Falcon, Cascade Head, and Cape Perpetua. Support was provided to the International Port of Coos Bay to lead a community team to consider development of a marine reserve proposal in the Cape Arago - Seven Devils area.

Marine Reserves Process Planning Initiated

In March of 2008, Governor Kulongoski issued Executive Order 08-07 entrusting the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to work with the Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC) to identify possible marine reserve sites in Oregon's Territorial Sea for recommendation. The executive order called for public nominations of sites and identified key sideboards, which shaped the recommendation process. In the Fall of 2008, twenty site proposals were submitted by community groups and individuals. Out of those twenty proposals, OPAC recommended six areas to move forward in the process. At the end of 2008, OPAC forwarded their recommendations to the Governor who endorsed the recommendations and requested marine reserves implementation funding for the 2009-2011 biennium in the Governor’s Recommended Budget.

"Rocky Shore Management in Oregon: Status and Trends of Resources, Uses, and Management" published by OPRD

This report was prepared for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department during a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Management Fellowship (Fellow: Laurel Hillmann)

Territorial Sea Plan Part IV Adopted

LCDC passed an administrative rule to adopt the Territorial Sea Plan Part IV, The Uses of the Sea Floor.

TSP Part III Amendment

LCDC amended the TSP Part III: Rocky Habitat Management Strategy to designate the Cape Arago Complex as a Reseach Reserve.

Rocky Shores Communication Strategy

In 1993, the Oregon Coastal Management Program (OCMP) began a cooperative project to prepare an overall communication strategy for the Rocky Shore Oregon Coast. The communication strategy was a tool to support the management policies outlined in the Territorial Sea Plan. The overall management goal was, "to protect the ecological values and coastal biodiversity within and among Oregon's rocky shores while allowing appropriate use" (Goal, p. 68, Oregon TSP 1991).

Rocky Shores Inventory and Assessment Report by ODFW

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife conducted an inventory of Oregon's coastal rocky shoreline focusing on natural resources, human use, and potential human influence on sensitive shoreline habitats.

Territorial Sea Plan (TSP) Adopted

The Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) adopted Oregon’s Territorial Sea Plan in 1994. Oregon's territorial sea reaches from the coastal high-tide area to three nautical miles into the ocean. The plan is a coast-wide strategy to protect Oregon’s valuable and vulnerable ocean resources, while enabling appropriate development. It requires state and federal agencies to analyze the effects of proposed activities on ocean resources and the marine environment. The TSP can be amended as needed by LCDC and OPAC.

Territorial Sea Plan (TSP) Draft Initiated

ORS Chapter 196 gave the Oregon Coastal Management Program (OCMP) primary responsibility for ocean planning and assisting OPAC with rulemaking. Part of this mandate was to write the Territorial Sea Plan (TSP) based on the requirements of Goal 19: Ocean Resources.

Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC) Established

The Oregon Legislature amended ORS Chapter 196 to establish the Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC) made up of a variety of ocean stakeholders, local governments, and state agencies charged with providing the governor and state agencies with recommendations for pressing ocean policy. OPAC is Oregon's legislatively established stakeholder advisory body. Its role is to co-steward the Territorial Sea Plan with the Land Conservation and Development Commission.

Oregon Stewardship Area Defined

Oregon's interests in ocean resource policy and management are not limited to state waters. Because the ocean is part of a much larger regional marine ecosystem, ocean uses and activities that occur in federal waters may affect Oregon's coastal environment and communities. For this reason, in 1991, the State of Oregon defined an Ocean Stewardship Area in the Ocean Resources Management Plan extending from mean high water, across the continental shelf, and down to the bottom of the continental slope.

Oregon Ocean Plan

The Oregon Ocean Resources Management Plan or the "Ocean Plan", was written by the 1987 Ocean Resources Task Force established by the 1987 Legislature. Though not published until 1991, the Ocean Plan provided important guidance for the Territorial Sea Plan drafting process and still informs ocean policy today.

Link to the Oregon Ocean Plan

TSP Part Four Amendment Finalized

The final amended rule and document were accepted by the Secretary of State on December 16, 2024. On November 2, 2023, the Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) adopted as part of the Oregon Coastal Management Program, and therein incorporated by reference, an amendment to the Territorial Sea Plan Part Four: Uses of the Sea Floor. The Territorial Sea Plan is an administrative rule (OAR 660-036-0001) stewarded by the LCDC in consultation with the Ocean Policy Advisory Council (OPAC). Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) staff were directed by House Bill 2603 (passed in the 2021 legislative session) to conduct a study of the process for siting of undersea cables in Oregon’s ocean waters and ocean shore and to work with OPAC to make recommendations for amendment of TSP Part Four by September, 2023.